You would need to reconfigure your browser each time you want to switch proxy servers. There may be extensions available for your browser to facilitate this, such as FoxyProxy or Proxy Selector for Firefox.

Many companies have firewalls to prevent outsiders from accessing their internal networks. If your computer is behind such a firewall, you may not be able to use the proxy service.

Some ISP's use firewalls or caching servers to minimize the amount of data their servers have to obtain from sites on the internet, thus increasing their apparent speed. In this situation, your browser may not be able to engage the Library's proxy server.

In either case, your system administrator should be able to clarify whether a firewall is blocking your access, and to discuss options with you.

As internet security has become a major problem, many users are choosing to run personal firewalls on their own computers. Some users have implemented firewall products such as Black Ice, Zone Alarm, and Symantec without negatively effecting their use of the proxy server. However, it is possible that the presence of a personal firewall may interfere with the browser's ability to access the proxy server.

If your browser is configured correctly but fails to engage the proxy server, this may be due to the presence of a personal firewall. If you are willing to run your system without the firewall, you may be able to determine whether this is the problem by turning the firewall off.

Some users have reported that wireless routers may also interfere with the browser's ability to access the proxy server. Clearly not all wireless routers have this effect. You may be able to determine whether the wireless router is the cause by disabling the wireless, and connecting by means of a conventional wire.

The Library is unable to provide specific recommendations for configuring wireless routers or personal firewall hardware or software.

No. The proxy server will only be used when you attempt to access a website that requires a UC Berkeley IP Address. Once you log in and gain permission to access the site, the proxy server will not perform any actions that use your bandwidth. In other words, it should not affect your download times at all.

The proxy server provides off-campus access to electronic resources licensed by the UC Berkeley Library. These include article databases, e-journals, e-books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, numeric data, and other premium online resources available through our website and catalogs.

You can locate many of these via the Databases link on the Library website, or through links in the library catalogs (look for "Electronic Locations" or "Available online").

Some resources are not available through the proxy server, generally because they operate through specific software on your computer rather than through the web. These include ARTstor (Macintosh only), JSTOR (Mac OS X), Luna Insight, the java client in UC Image Service, Loeb Classical Library Online, and the Connect function in EndNote. UC Berkeley users can access these resources from off campus through our VPN (Virtual Private Network) system.